The cities of Braunschweig and Oldenburg are threatening “silent Christmas markets” because the Society for Musical Performance and Mechanical Reproduction Rights (Gema) has drastically increased its fees for performances by local choirs or groups. Braunschweig spoke of a 15-fold increase in costs, while the city of Oldenburg was already expecting a 20-fold increase. When asked, the state capital of Hanover reported an increase in costs from 9,500 euros to 45,000 euros for the past year alone.
Gema rejects the allegations and refers to a twelve-year-old ruling by the Federal Court of Justice (I ZR 175/10), which defines the basis for calculating the tariff applicable to all markets. This was already negotiated in 2018, but was only implemented comprehensively after the corona pandemic.
The tariff for such city festivals is being negotiated with industry associations, Gema said when asked by the epd. In this case, the Federal Association of Music Organizers, of which the German Association of Cities is also a member, took over the negotiations. The tariff negotiated five years ago has been “neither changed nor adjusted”.
In 2011, the Federal Court of Justice determined that the amount of remuneration, even for open-air events, should be determined according to the size of the event area – calculated from the first to the last stand and from house wall to house wall (ref.: I ZR 175/10). The judges emphasized that this “should not be viewed as arbitrary and unreasonable.” Oldenburg and Braunschweig had argued that the choirs only provided sound from the Christmas market stage for a small part of the markets and not the entire area.
Choirs don’t fill the entire Christmas market with sound
A Gema spokeswoman also emphasized that the areas reported by the cities are now being re-measured using modern tools. “We discovered clear discrepancies.” These had to be taken into account when calculating the license amount simply because of the equal treatment of all customers. That is why higher fees have been demanded in individual cases. “So there is no price increase as such.”
Gema sent around 3,350 invoices for the Christmas markets in 2022, it said. Of these, around 35 complaints were made due to significantly increased license costs. In these cases, Gema has started discussions and has already agreed on an appropriate solution. The city of Hanover contradicted this: “Our appeal to Gema was unsuccessful. We are currently trying to find another solution for the large Christmas markets in Germany through the German Association of Cities.”
If no solution can be found, royalty-free music will probably be played at the Christmas markets, it was said from Hanover. The royalty-free works of Christmas music include classics such as “O you cheerful”, “O Tannenbaum” and “Jingle Bells”.
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2023-10-19 16:30:47
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